Tools for Research: GIS and Data Mapping

(UW restricted). This web-based mapping application changes the way you use and interact with complex data. SimplyAnalytics enables non-technical and advanced users to quickly create professional thematic maps and reports using powerful demographic, business, and marketing data. How to extract data tutorial (~3 min. video).

This cloud-based portal serves as a collaborative content management system for maps, apps, data, and other geographic information. (Purchase plan required).

This platform allows you to travel the world through a virtual globe and view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, and much more. With Google Earth's rich geographical content, you are able to experience a more realistic view of the world than most other portals. You can fly to your favorite places, search for businesses and navigate through directions. It can be used to create and share KML files.

A science-based mapping and analysis platform that supports learning, research, and sustainable environmental stewardship.

This is a free online service for making custom maps for geographic analysis or presentations.

This is a GIS project that includes a free and open source desktop geographic information system with an extensive plugin architecture, a GIS ActiveX control, and a C# GIS programmer library called DotSpatial.

This is a user-friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). It runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows, and Android and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities.

This is a free computer program for mapping and geographic data analysis. With DIVA-GIS you can make maps of the world or very small areas using data such as state boundaries, rivers, satellite images, and species distributions. They also provide free spatial data for the whole world that you can use in DIVA-GIS or other geospatial programs.

This is a free toolkit for developing mapping applications. It is written in C++ and there are Python binding to facilitate fast-paced, agile development for both desktop and web applications. It reads ESRI shapefiles, PostGIS, TIFF rasters, .osm files, and any GDAL or OGR supported formats.

This software is commonly refered to as GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System). It is a free GIS software used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, graphics/maps production, spatial modeling, and visualizations. GRASS GIS is currently used in academic and commercial settings around the world as well as by many government agencies and environmental consulting companies. GRASS GIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

This is a tool for cartographers to quickly and easily design maps for the web using custom data. It is built on the powerful open-source maps rendering library Mapnik - the same software OpenStreetMap and MapQuest use to make some of their maps. TileMill is not intended to be a general-purpose cartography tool, but rather focuses on streamlining and simplifying a narrow set of cases.